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"LET us HAVE PEACE." 



A POEM 



JOSEPH J. JVUJ^ES. 



P II 1 1. A D E L P n I A : 

KING & BAIRD, PRINTERS, No. 617 SANSOM STREET, 

1869. 



"LET US HAVE PEACE."-grant. 



By JOSEPH A. NUNES. 



Let us have peace ! '^ The patriot hero's voice- 

Which, 'mid the din of war and reign of fire, 
Caused the thrilled hearts of millions to rejoice, 

And in their souls did confidence inspire — 
Invokes the Olive Branch, and 'neath its shade, 

Where the tired dove its wings doth close, 
Pleads that the embers of sad strife be laid. 

And loA^e, fraternal, blossom like the rose. 



Let us have peace ! " It is a heavenly sound ; 

Like nnto that which, 'midst chaotic night, 
Woke slumbering Echo, in her depths profound, 

To answer Heaven's decree — Let there be light ! 
And light there was, and light there still must be — 

The light of reason, light of hope and love ; 
Of Freedom's temple— light of liberty. 

Which came with life— descending from above! 



" Let us have peace ! " The hour and the man 

Alike demand this, Mercy's sacrifice. 
Which, reaching upward with a rainbow's span. 

Takes mortals nearer the eternal skies, 
And, in the stead of Desolation's path. 

Of sterile fields, and woe, and want, and care. 
Bids Plenty ravel out the work of wrath, 

And makes of earth a garden rich and fair ! 



" Let us have peace ! " No zealot makes the plea, 

And uses it to climb to power and place: 
No poor pretense it is of words ; for he 

Who urges it, is of the human race, 
And of his native land, an oft-tried friend, 

Whose aim is honor, and whose life is ruth. 
Round which fixme, virtue, Avisdom, valor blend, 

To form a cynosure, whose crown is truth. 



"Let us have peace!" 'Mid carnage and 'mid flame, 

Through which our country sprang to loftier life, 
That end has been our patriot hero's aim ; 

And to entomb all bitterness and strife : 
E'en when the muUerings of the storm were heard ; 

When prejudice made treason's power increase — 
Ere, on his country's altar flashed his sword — 

His pra^-er was then, as it is now, for peace ! 



"Let us have peace!" On Belmont's plain he spoke 

To those whose valor, in a better cause, 
Would, like the dawn, in glory then have broke, 

And gained rich tribute in the world's applause, 
Alas, they sought to dig a nation's grave ; 

They bid ambition riot o'er its tomb : 
He led the hosts of Freedom, but to save ; 

His victory was the antepast of doom ! 



"Let us have peace!" Fort Donelson appears, 

And threats the land with a divided rule; 
Yet he who asks it knows no doubts nor fears ; 

No hireling he; no despot's pliant tool. 
Impelled by justice, guided by the right. 

He leads, o'er serried ranks and bristling walls, 
Full in the throat of death, 'till Freedom's might 

Is dearly proved, and the proud fortress falls! 



Let us have peace!" Why drench the land with gore? 

No courage can give dignity to crime I 
Lay down those arms ! The nation's rights restore, 

And share again its destiny sublime! 
In vain, in vain! On Shiloh's bloody field 

Rebellion rushes with a frantic shock, 
Wliich Freedom, panoplied in burnished shield, 

Hurls back, like foam that breaks against a rock ! 



"Let us have peace!" Does Yicksburg still deny 

The nation's rio^ht of eorress to the sea? 
Mute are its walls; j'et, rolling grandly hy, 

The stream floats but the ensign of the free ! 
List to the waves ! how their exultant chant — 

Which never in the tide of time shall cease — 
Tells of the peerless, the majestic deeds of Grant, 

Made sacred in the holy name of peace! 



Let us have peace!" Lo, Chattanooga's hills, 
Wrapt in the mantle of primeval gloom, 

Frown dark defiance; but 'tis Heaven that wills 
Defiance, there, shall also meet its doom. 

No solid phalanx, nor cloud-climbing ridge, 
Can check the starry banner's upward flight: 

Each rugged barrier is but a bridge. 

O'er which it leaps to reach the grandest height. 



" Let us have peace !" The Wilderness is here I 
Earth drinks libation in a crimson flood ! 
The hosts of misrule backward press, while near, 

Peace, rising from a baptism of blood, 
(In beauty radiant as the queen of night,) 

Unfolds her snowy wings and dove-like crest. 
And, with a smile serene and heavenly bright, 
. Proclaims the land, and its defenders, blest ! 



'Let us have peace !" Rebellion still recedes/ 

And Richmond yields submission to the laws ! 
One effort more, to crown the noble deeds, 

Made still more noble by their God-like cause ! 
Onward, still onward, on the dial-plate, 

Moves the slow finger of the hand of doom : 
Louder, still louder, sound the words of fate — 

" Lo ! Appomattox is Rebellion's tomb !" 



Let us have peace ! " The war at length is o er 

The Hero is the Statesman and. Sage, 
Whose counsel wise, will happily restore 

All that was lost by desolating rage. 
The muse of history, with pen in hand. 

On page of adamant inscribes the lease 
That gives the nation, with united land, 

Blessings unnumbered, waiting upon Peace ! 




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